SHELBURNE — A man in his early 70s was transported by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with life-threatening injuries after his Honda motorcycle collided with a Ford F-250 truck on Route 2 on Tuesday afternoon, authorities say.

Both eastbound and westbound traffic was backed up on Route 2 at approximately 2 p.m. as Shelburne Police and Massachusetts State Police blocked off the crash site. Debris was scattered across the road, along with a helmet and a heavily damaged motorcycle.

The Ford truck’s driver, Charlemont resident Dale Bulmer, said he was traveling westbound on Route 2 and collided with the motorcyclist while turning left into the Aubuchon Hardware parking lot to buy some bird seed.

“Before I turned, of course, I looked this way. I didn’t see anybody coming, so I started to turn, and then all of a sudden, there he was,” Bulmer said. “He must have been going pretty fast because when I looked before the turn, there wasn’t anybody there.”

When asked if he could confirm Bulmer’s account of the crash, Shelburne Police Chief Gregory Bardwell said it was “too early” to determine what happened. He said at approximately 2:20 p.m. that investigators with the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section would be arriving shortly to investigate.

Bardwell said it was “too early to tell” if any charges would be filed.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.